Matters of Representation with Nishant Makhijani (MBA’24)
For a testament to the value of representation and affinity groups, look no further than MBA graduate Nishant Makhijani (MBA’24).
When Makhijani made his first visit to Georgetown in 2020, he already knew it would be a great place to pursue his interest in service-oriented business. But deep conversations with Dan McMahon (MBA’21) — then an MBA student and president of the LGTBQ+ affinity group Out@MSB — made him feel like it was also a place where he could be himself as a gay man.
The COVID pandemic would take Makhijani home to his native India for a couple of years of work with his family’s business, but his impression of McDonough remained. When it was time for him to pursue his degree, he chose the school. He had aspirations beyond just coursework, too. He wanted to revitalize and expand Out@MSB.
“It was small to begin with,” Makhijani says, noting that LGTBQ+ representation in MBA programs tends to be low, “but COVID really broke down a lot of club participation. We worked to build it all back.”
McDonough students during the annual Identity Stories event, hosted by Out@MSB.
For instance, Makhijani and fellow members were keen to bring back the “Identity Stories” annual event, in which students candidly share both their struggles and their joys with each other. Those well-attended storytelling sessions were complemented by other community events and a club trip to the Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) conference, dedicated to networking and career opportunities for the LGTBQ+ community.
That ROMBA connection is especially important to Makhijani. He has helped spur the relationship between admissions and the organization to increase recruiting within the community, and he has served as a ROMBA conference representative himself. Makhijani also received the Rich Chicotel LGBTQ+ Leadership Award during the 2024 ROMBA conference to recognize his commitment to the community, service, and mentorship. On top of that, he was recruited early for his new management consulting job at EY-Parthenon at ROMBA.
Makhijani and the organizing team for the ROMBA 2023 conference.
“Networking and representation matter,” Makhijani says. “Now I just have to go ace the job.”
It’s safe to say Makhijani aced the job as a leader for Out@MSB. He’s perhaps most proud of helping to gather that community of students early in his academic career at McDonough, and then making sure there were enough programs and resources to keep them close and active. It’s been a way for him to put his assertive, problem-solving nature to work.